VIGIL to Remember Gay Teen Jorge Lopez Mercado

Stop the Slaughter

A Vigil will be held in Philadelphia on Friday evening, November 20th to remember 19-year-old Jorge Lopez Mercado. Lopez, a Puerto Rican native was found partially burned, decapitated and with arms and legs dismembered, on the side of the road near his home town Caguas, Puerto Rico on Saturday, November 14th.

The Vigil will be held at the Church of St. Luke and The Epiphany, 330 South 13th Street in Philadelphia from 6:30 to 7 p.m.

Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender organizations, activists and allies are invited. The Vigil will include the Philadelphia Gay Men’s Chorus, Gloria Casarez, LGBT Liaison to Mayor Nutter, Cynthia Vasquez, youth activist at the Gay and Lesbian Latino AIDS Education Initiative (GALAEI), and Malcolm Lazin , Executive Director of Equality Forum.

There were 29 gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) hate crime murders in the United States in 2008.

“We must stop the homophobic slaughter,” stated Malcolm Lazin , Executive Director of Equality Forum. “Since Matthew Shepard’s murder in 1998, there have been over 16,000 gay hate crimes, and on average, about 1,450 GLBT hate crimes per year.”

Police have identified a suspect in the murder of Jorge Lopez Mercado. According to Puerto Rican activists, gay hate crimes in Puerto Rico are not prosecuted.

“We call on US Attorney General Holder to investigate and prosecute in federal court this horrific crime,” stated Lazin. “The decapitation and dismemberment of Jorge Lopez Mercado reminds America that we need to eliminate homophobia in our schools, communities and culture.”

There will also be a Vigil in New York City on Sunday, November 22nd. “It is our hope that communities around the nation will hold Vigils to remember Jorge and that his memory will be a call to conscience,” said Lazin.

Equality Forum is a national and international GLBT civil rights organization with an educational focus. Equality Forum coordinates GLBT History Month, produces documentary films, undertakes high impact initiatives and presents annually the largest national and international GLBT civil rights forum.

www.equalityforum.com


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Partner remembers Doctor's Hospital shooting victim, Leslie Harris

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"He gave me a kiss and said I love you and I told him I love you back. And those were the last words we ever had."

"He was very nurturing, very caring and very loving. He was fun and outgoing type with a bubbly personality. Even if it was a bad day, he made the staff have fun," says Cavender.
"He shot the first nurse. He said you're the one who killed my mother and he shot him. Les took off down the hall to secure the elevator, but instead of him being on the elevator, he was behind the wall and he turned and shot him in the heart," he added.

Cavendar says, Les died right in his arms.

"He not only took away someone very special to me, but a very special co-worker, a very talented co-worker," added Cavender.

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Man awaits sentencing after guilty plea in '93 murder

Note: 15 years later?

Pennsylvania: Gary Gerber Jr., 36, who was charged with being involved with his brothers in a multimillion-dollar theft ring, pleaded guilty to killing hairdresser Robert Hagan, 45, of Blairstown, N.J. Hagan was found stabbed and run over with his own vehicle on Rimrock Drive, police said.

Attorney General Tom Corbett said a state grand jury investigation into the theft ring implicated Gerber in the murder.

Gerber's brother Richard testified to the grand jury that the entire family knew about the killing because Gerber had admitted the murder to him. Gerber reportedly was heard referring to the victim as a "faggot" and "queer."

When asked if Hagan's murder was viewed as a hate crime, Corbett said he couldn't comment.

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The Palmerston North High Court has been told that two men kicked and beat a homosexual man to death and removed parts of his body in a frenzied attack lasting for hours.

Andre Gilling and Ashley Arnopp are accused of murdering 39-year-old Stanley Waipouri at his Palmerston North flat in December last year.

The court was told that a neighbour came to complain about the noise and when the door of the flat opened he saw a body lying on the floor inside with its clothes pulled down.

Later, the police found Gilling and Arnopp in the flat with Waipouri's body and blood everywhere, from floor to ceiling.

The Crown says Waipouri suffered widespread bruising, fractures and internal bleeding. The skin had been torn from his penis and the tip completely removed. One of his ears had also been severed.

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UPDATE: Sandy murder (hate crime)

A man who tried to fend off gay-bashing charges by telling a jury that he is also gay was convicted of manslaughter as a hate crime Thursday in an attack at a remote city beach.

Jurors deliberated several days before convicting Anthony Fortunato in the death of Michael Sandy, who was beaten and then chased into the path of a moving car on Oct. 8, 2006.

A second man charged in the attack, John Fox, was convicted of manslaughter and hate crime charges last week by a separate jury. Another attacker, Gary Timmins, pleaded guilty to attempted robbery and testified for prosecutors.

A fourth suspect, Ilye Shurov, is awaiting trial.

Hate crimes conviction in Sandy murder trial

John Fox was one of two young men on trial for their roles in the assault on Michael Sandy, who was ambushed and chased into traffic during a mugging a year ago. A car struck Sandy as he fled onto Brooklyn's Belt Parkway, fatally injuring him.

The jury acquitted Fox of a murder charge, but found him guilty of second-degree manslaughter and attempted robbery. Jurors also found that the offense amounted to a hate crime, a distinction that will add time to Fox's sentence.

He faces between five and 25 years in prison on the manslaughter charge, Brooklyn prosecutors said.